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Success with food intolerance
A Sheffield business woman, who runs a wheat, gluten and lactose free food company, has outperformed hundreds of entrepreneurs to reach the Northern Regional Finals of the 2008 HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards.
The national contest, now in its eighth year, is designed to seek out the most promising start-up businesses in the UK.
Emma Killilea, who started Delicious Alchemy two years ago, is now hoping to scoop the top title and a cheque for 50,000, courtesy of HSBC.
Emma was inspired to set up her own business when she discovered she had a severe wheat and gluten intolerance. Disaopinted by the range of wheat and gluten free food available in shops at the time Emma decided to sell her house and go back to university to do a food degree. She set up Delicious Alchemy while still studying.
Since launching the business in December 2006 Emma has already won three major industry awards.
Delicious Alchemy is one of 20 companies to secure a place in the Northern Regional Finals. Their entry will now be considered by a local panel of business experts who will select the top 10 start-up companies in the North to go forward to the national judging.
This year there will be six heats, generating 60 Regional Winners from throughout the UK. From this pool of talented entrepreneurs, the top 10 will be invited to London to convince the national judging panel why they should be named 'Start-Up Star 2008'.
The overall Winner will be revealed at a black-tie gala dinner at London's Dorchester Hotel on 29th October.
A cheque for 5,000 will also be presented to the business scooping the Green Award, demonstrating they are putting the environment at the top of their business agenda.
As official supporter of the Awards, Google will be offering 5,000 of AdWords and a visit to their London office as a prize to both the National Winner and the Green Award Winner. Each of the runners-up will receive 2,500 of AdWords.
Huw Morgan, HSBC's Head of Business Banking, said: "The 2008 HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards are the biggest and best yet.
"Last year, HSBC alone helped nearly 130,000 new ventures get off the ground, and this is representative of the entrepreneurial talent that exists in Britain today.
"Many are still only small businesses, but with big ideas. We are proud Start-Up Stars can contribute to their aspirations and that the Awards play a pivotal role in identifying the business leaders of the future."
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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